At about 5:30 p.m. Saturday night, Ford River Volunteer Fire Department was paged for a house fire on K Road.The house was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived.
The fire had already vented and had heavy flames through the roof and throughout most of the house.
Shortly after arriving, parts of the structure and the floors started to collapse. Because of the extreme heat inside and the structure starting to collapse, firefighters used an exterior attack to fight the fire.
“Most of the windows in the house had already broke out from the extreme heat and flames. The windows that were not broken were black when we arrived. With the extreme heat and amount of flames throughout the house, the structural integrity was at a point it was not safe to send anyone inside. I’m proud of our team for their quick response. Everyone on scene worked great together. When the fire is as advanced as this one was upon arrival it makes it tough to get the fire out but all the firefighters on scene did a great job,” said Brian Nelson, chief of Ford River Volunteer Fire Department.
The DNR says that because of the dry conditions, the hot embers from the house fire were starting spot fires in the woods as far as a quarter mile away.
No one was home at the time the fire broke out. One dog died on the scene. No injuries were reported. The house was a total loss.
Ford River Fire Department was assisted by Escanaba Township Fire Department, Bark River Fire Department, Escanaba Public Safety, the DNR fire crews, Rampart, Delta County Sheriff Dept., Michigan state police, UPPCO, Sam Slaga logging and Delta County Central Dispatch.Special thank you to the citizens who brought bottles of drinking water for the firefighters and Little Caesar’s for donating some pizza for the firefighters.The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time.
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